Tyler West, Strictly Star, Recalls Witnessing Murder at 14
Presenter Tyler West, 30, says he saw a man killed outside his family home as a teenager. He told an interview the experience was 'traumatising' but pushed him to leave an isolated life, leading to handball, CBBC and a television career.
Tyler West, the 30-year-old Strictly Come Dancing star, has said he witnessed a murder outside his home when he was 14 and was left "traumatised" by it. He described the incident in a newly published interview.
West said he was a "shy" teenager who "struggled mentally" and often isolated himself. Asked what drew him out of that, he pointed to the killing.
"I witnessed a murder outside my house when I was 14 and that was traumatising," he said. "But suddenly there was this moment where I was like, 'I can't stay in this environment any more'."
He then took up handball. CBBC, the BBC's children's channel, interviewed the team during a training session, and West said it was the first time he had spoken on camera.
Earlier account on a podcast
It is not the first time he has talked about it. On Pete Wicks' Man Made podcast, West became visibly emotional as he described what he saw.
"I'm panicking over here because I saw the men coming back out and then they're trying to put the body in a bag," he said. He recalled that the call to police lasted just over 10 minutes and that nobody had arrived by then.
He said the two men went back into the flat, and he and his mother went outside. "My mum's trying to put the towels on the wounds, I'm standing over this man's body," he said. "I was in shock."
West added that he did not realize at the time how far the event would shape his life. "I never knew that that would be something that changed the course of my life forever," he said.
Television career
West began presenting on CBBC and has since built a career in television and radio. He is a familiar face on Lorraine and currently co-hosts Strictly: Lights Up with Abi Clarke.
That programme gives viewers instant reactions from the evening's eliminated couple and their dance-off rivals, plus the judges, presenters, fellow Strictly stars and studio guests.
In 2022, West took part in Strictly Come Dancing, paired with Dianne Buswell. The following year he and his fiancée, Mollie Rainford, entered Celebrity Race Across the World.
The pair covered 5,900km across Central and South America, from Isla Mujeres in Mexico to the Guajira Peninsula in Colombia. Roman Kemp and his sister Harleymoon won the series.
Strictly Come Dancing continues Saturday at 6.25pm on BBC One.
